News Brief
Centre To Penalise Highway Contractors For Repeated Accidents; Cashless Treatment Scheme For Victims On The Anvil
An accident site on a highway. (Image via PTI) (Representative Image)
In a move to curb road accidents and fatalities, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has introduced stringent measures penalising contractors responsible for recurring accidents on stretches of National Highways built under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.
Road Transport and Highways Secretary V Umashankar said the ministry has revised the BOT framework, mandating contractors to implement crash management systems and take immediate corrective actions if multiple accidents occur on a specific stretch, as per a PTI report.
"If more than one accident happens in a particular stretch, say 500 metres, then the contractor will face a penalty of Rs 25 lakh. Penalty will increase to Rs 50 lakh if an accident happens next year," he stated.
The ministry has identified nearly 3,500 accident-prone zones across India. Under the BOT model, concessionaires are responsible for maintenance of highway stretches for a period ranging from 15 to 20 years.
Other models such as the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) also define specific maintenance responsibilities, with EPC projects having defect liability periods of up to 10 years for concrete pavements.
The initiative, providing coverage of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for the first seven days of hospitalisation, will soon roll out after incorporating learnings from pilot projects.
The scheme, first tested in Chandigarh and later extended to six states, aims to ensure timely medical intervention and reduce fatalities arising from road mishaps, a major cause of preventable deaths in India.
